Facile Access to Pentavalent Uranium Organometallics: One-Electron Oxidation of Uranium(IV) Imido Complexes with Copper(I) Salts

Uranium(V)−imido−iodide complexes have been prepared by chemical oxidation of the corresponding uranium(IV)−imido complexes with copper(I) iodide. These U(V) organometallic systems show reversible UV/UIV and UVI/UV redox behavior in addition to classic 5f spectroscopic signatures. The generality of this Cu(I)-based oxidation protocol is demonstrated by preparation of the analogous U(V)−imido−triflate and −thiolate complexes using CuOTf and CuSPh, respectively.